Before & After: A Guest Room with the Comforts of a Hotel

I think when most people move into a new home, decorating the guest room probably isn’t their first priority—but that wasn’t so in this case. Emily, owner of Cheerfully Made, recently moved with her family into a big, four-bedroom in the small town of Almonte, Ontario, and while the extra space was amazing and the house was in great shape, it was stuck in a time warp. And what was the first room Emily attacked? The guest room. Emily and I worked together on a plan to bring this room up-to-date and make it warm and welcoming for guests. Wait until you see what we came up with…

The result is a fresh and welcoming space full of charm and color, including a large gallery wall and a sitting area in which her guests can have a quiet moment to themselves. This room is especially perfect for guests because of the in-room sink, which was one feature Emily was happy to keep as-is. Stop by Emily’s Cheerfully Made blog to see more before pictures.

The starting point for this room was the whimsical wallpaper by Hygge & West that was used to select the color palette—which happens to be very on-trend, according to Pantone’s Color of the Year. The biggest challenge was definitely wallpapering the ceiling, and, quite frankly, it’s a small miracle that Emily and I are still friends after that task. But all was forgotten when we stood back to admire the results.

The main feature of the room is this art wall that we created on a budget by finding old frames at the thrift shop and then designing artwork to fit those sizes using some of our favorite quotes about sleep as inspiration. You can find digital downloads of these specific prints in my Etsy shop if you’re not the designer type and are looking for a shortcut.

This seating area, along with the in-room sink, really makes guests feel like they’re staying at a hotel. These Mid-century modern style chairs we found at Leon’s were the perfect match with our color palette and really added a modern touch.

I was lucky enough to be the first guest to stay in this retreat, and I can say that it was definitely warm and welcoming—although I found it hard to sleep with so many beautiful things to look at.

You can visit Emily’s blog for more great pictures of this room and get her take on the whole project.